A kindred spirit
by RedHatMeg
Summary: "It didn't want to grant the gift of flying to a wrong person." Or why the Cloak of Levitation chose Doctor Strange?


**I was thinking really long time about writing a story showing why the Cloak chose Strange to be its wielder; what exactly made the Relic like this man. I think I've found the answer.**

 **There is a reference to a plot point that supposedly was going to appear in the movie, but eventually end up being deleted. Mainly - there was a supposed to be scene when Strange's younger sister drowns and this event makes him become a doctor (and, subsequently, being the source of his fear of failure). I hope that this subplot will be brought back in the sequel.**

 **Anyway, enjoy and please, leave a comment.**

 **A kindred spirit**

The Cloak of Levitation was a Relic. Therefore it had a right choose who's supposed to use it.

And, really, who wouldn't want to be chosen by the Relic that could make them fly? Mankind wanted to fly for centuries. Mankind was _dreaming_ of flying. Mankind was so _desperate_ to fly, they've spent decades on making machines that would enable them to do so. Flight was like a definition of freedom to men.

Sorcerers wanted to fly too. So they were standing in front of Cloak's case, hoping to be chosen. But the Cloak didn't find most of them worthy.

The Relic was choosing its wielder because of certain characteristics. Based on these characteristics the Relics knew that their future Master will use them in a way they wanted to be used. In the end, there had to be a partnership between the Relic and its wielder. But not only this. The Sorcerer and the Relic had to be kindred spirits.

The Cloak of Levitation was bored easily. It loved frolicking. It loved fun. It loved to be free. And it loved to broke rules. The Cloak firm believed that rules were meant to be broken (okay, not all of them; after all, it didn't want to harm anyone)… It also liked minds that were able to think outside the box. Overall, the Cloak of Levitation liked it when humans were unconventional.

Oh, the Cloak had Masters. Some of them were good people, but most of them turned to be… not-so-good. All of them were able to move away from overused patterns and do remarkable things. After all, what mankind was good at, was innovation. However, said innovation could be used to both good and evil – to make mankind fly and make it fall. And after few centuries the Cloak elevated its standards when it came to Cloak's future user.

And that's how it became picky with its next Masters. And so it came to a situation when months, years, decades, centuries were passing and the Cloak of Levitation wasn't choosing its wielder. All the souls of people the Cloak examined throughout this time seemed to be either good and boring, or exciting, yet possessing a dangerous stroke of darkness. In the end, all humans had darkness within them, but the Cloak needed someone with a free spirit and keen mind… but aware of dangers.

Meanwhile the sorcerers started to call it fickle. _Fickle_! Like choosing another Master was an easy choice for a Relic! After all those years, all those bad choices, the Cloak had to be picky. Even if he had to wait eons for the right wielder, the Cloak knew it was worth it. After all – the Relic didn't want to rest on the wrong shoulders. It didn't want to grant the gift of flying to a wrong person.

The time was passing. The Ancient One decided that Cloak of Levitation should be moved to New York Sanctum. Maybe it was just a coincidence… or maybe it was a premonition. In the end, the Cloak would never know, because The Ancient One was, for the most part, unreadable, even for a Relic like Cloak. Nevertheless, it turned out to be a very fateful decision.

The last but one guardian of New York Sanctum was boring as hell. He was very strict about the rules and, obviously, very honored to be granted such an important position, so the Cloak knew it shouldn't even bother with him.

But it so happened that soon another sorcerer came into New York Sanctum. An unexpected guest with wounds from fight he just escaped. Aimlessly wandering around the Sanctum, watching everything with a mild curiosity. Once the new sorcerer stopped in front of its case, the Cloak of Levitation could look at him better. And it really liked what it saw.

The Cloak saw a prideful man. He was once a healer, performing remarkable deeds, sometimes even doing an impossible. He gained a fortune and prestige due to his career. But the Cloak sensed that it wasn't greed, nor pride that was motivating him to be the best doctor in the world. It was something else. Something deep inside of him. A source of horrible sorrow from his past… a tragedy he was hopeless to stop. It implanted in him a determination to never fail. Because in his world, a failure meant death.

Next the Cloak saw an accident. A horrible twist of fate, brought on this man due to his own recklessness. His hands were basically taken away from him. Those wonderful, life-saving hands were rendered useless in one night. He was almost as helpless as a child and he became desperately looking for the cure. He spent his great fortune to make his hands move even a little bit. He used his prestige to ask his colleagues for help. But in the end, the healer couldn't perform his remarkable deeds anymore, because other healers couldn't grant him one miracle. The man was broken and angry, and said many unnecessary words to someone, who was only trying to help. Unnecessary words that he later regretted deeply.

But the Cloak saw hope. A miracle that ultimately led the man to Kamal-Taj and brought him to The Ancient One. But he quickly realized that it wasn't exactly what he was looking for. His materialistic, focused on science mind couldn't comprehend the truth of The Sorceress Supreme's words, until she showed him how wrong he was and how narrow were his horizons. It made the right impact because from now on the man decided to learn magic. However, The Ancient One refused his request.

The Cloak saw how the man spent couple of days at the doorstep to Kamal-Taj, until The Sorceress Supreme was persuaded by Mordo to let him in. At first the man wasn't a very good student, he had few mental blockades that prevented him from progress. Therefore The Ancient One had to use her ultimate training method – forced the man to use magic to save his own life. Needless to say, it worked. And that was when the real fun started. The man was becoming better with magic with every day. He was learning advance techniques and even using magic in creative ways. The Cloak was really impressed with this man's innovation.

And finally the Cloak of Levitation saw the man taking the Eye of Agamotto and using it to recreate the missing page from Sorceress Supreme's book and learn what Kaecilius was looking for, when he attacked the Kamal-Taj. The man was warned about the dangers of his actions, but he was still asking questions. It was more than clear that this man didn't like to play by the rules… but he wasn't insane enough to dream about immortality of world domination.

Ultimately the Cloak felt that it had finally found someone meeting its high standards. Standing in front of its case, was Stephen Strange – a man, who fell from grace, an imperfect human being with humungous ego and fear of failure… but also a man who was doing what he wanted, and he wanted to learn more. And in his pursuit of knowledge, he was ready to break few rules and challenge the authority.

The Cloak of Levitation finally found a kindred spirit. And so it decided to make Stephen Strange fly.


End file.
